Kate ’s ‘see-through dress grabs eyeballs’

The transparent knitted lace dress was originally estimated to fetch 8,000-10,000 pounds when it goes under the hammer on Thursday, but is likely to break that target — thanks to the intense interest from buyers around the world, reports the Telegraph.

Auctioneer Kerry Taylor said the huge interest reflected the ‘Kate-mania’ sweeping the world.

Middleton wore the dress with black underwear beneath on the catwalk during a charity fashion show at the University of St Andrews in 2002.

The prince was in the audience and the pair later became a couple.

Taylor joked that no call has yet come from the prince to make a bid for the dress.

“I am quite astonished by the amount of interest from all over the world, from Korea to Japan to America. Literally there’s global interest in the dress and that reflects the interest in Kate Middleton,” she said.

“I feel quite sorry for her – if you’re getting this kind of response to a dress that she wore for 10 minutes all those years ago it’s quite extraordinary. But we’ve not had Prince William on the phone yet. I’m very disappointed,” she added.

“I have sold all kinds of things in my life: the Union Jack dress that Geri Halliwell wore as a Spice Girl, which was iconic at the time; Robbie Williams`` tiger underpants,” said Taylor.

“I have sold some quite bizarre things. But this combines the complete ``Kate-mania`` with the love story, the romance of it all, it’s just a very special unique thing,” she added.

She said the dress was likely to get far more than the original 8,000-pounds estimate.

“It went in with a nice come-hither estimate to make it as accessible to people as possible. But ultimately whoever has the best reason and the biggest bank balance will get it,” said Taylor.

“We’ve got people flying in from America, banks have telephones booked. I don’t know what it’s going to make but I think it’s true to say it will go for a lot more than I have said,” she said.

“A lot of them are business people, it’s possibly for investment and possibly publicity for whatever company they own,” she added.

The garment, designed by student Charlotte Todd, was initially created as a skirt but the fashion show’s organisers decided it would be worn as a dress.